Eric Jones Clatworthy – Royal Air Force, 266 Squadron

Aircraftman 1st Class Eric Jones Clatworthy – Royal Air Force, 266 Squadron

Thomas Goodwan Clatworthy and Maria Jones marriage certificate parish church of Llangyfelach, Swansea

Eric Jones Clatworthy was born in 1920, in Morriston, the son of Thomas Goodwan Clatworthy and Maria Jones, who had married in 1916 at the parish church of Llangyfelach, Swansea.

1921 Census – Bath Villa Cottage, Morriston

1921 Census

By the 1921 Census, the Clatworthy family were living at Bath Villa Cottage, Morriston. Thomas Goodwan, aged 27, was employed as an Electric Crane Driver in the steel works for the Duffryn Steel & Tinplate Company Ltd, though at the time of the census he was out of work, reflecting the difficult industrial conditions of the early post‑war years. His wife Maria, aged 26, managed the home. Their only child was Eric Jones, then nine months old, the youngest member of a household shaped by the rhythms of Morriston’s steel industry.

Military Service

During the Second World War, Eric Jones Clatworthy served as an Aircraftman 1st Class with the Royal Air Force, attached to No. 266 Squadron. At this time, 266 Squadron was based at RAF Wittering, Northamptonshire, one of the RAF’s major fighter and operational stations during the early years of the war.

Eric Jones Clatworthy
Morriston Cemetery
credit - findagrave

Death and Burial

Eric died at home in Swansea from tuberculosis, a reminder that not all wartime losses occurred on active operations. His death came while serving with the RAF, and he was laid to rest at Morriston Cemetery, where his grave forms part of the Second World War burials recorded in the district.